The present invention relates to comparing plural sections of geometric data representations corresponding to differing objects and, more particularly, to objects with diverse and relatively complicated geometries such as airfoils, engine parts like those used in gas turbines for aircraft and industrial power, and the like.
Objects with diverse and complicated geometries must often be compared to determine any similarities or differences between those geometries. There are many examples including sorting an collection of objects as a basis for placing them each at a location assigned to objects of a corresponding specified geometry, identifying observed objects as belonging or not to a group of specified geometry objects, evaluating differences in designs of different but similar objects, etc.
In current technology, many objects have their geometries represented in some kind of computing machine representation having corresponding geometric data files which may be stored in digital databases to be accessible by computer operators having computers with suitable computer programs available for carrying out desired procedures with respect thereto. Alternatively, object geometries may be stored in a variety of ways in paper files to be accessible directly by humans. Thus, there are different methodologies available for constructing such representations as well as many different file formats available for storing the resulting representations. However, comparisons of the geometric data files of differing objects to determine the differences between the objects themselves is usually done faster, cheaper and more accurately using some sort of computing machine. Hence, many geometric data files on paper will be converted to digitally based files in computer accessible databases as the basis for making such comparisons. This is especially true for objects with more complicated geometries such as airfoils, engine parts like those used in gas turbines for aircraft and industrial power, or the like, having curvilinear outlines that change over various extents of thereof. Examples of such engine parts include but are not limited to disks, shafts, rotor disk slots, dovetails, firtrees, shrouded blades and other parts in which dimensional accuracy is important or even critical.
Commonly, such objects, having a geometry characterized by outline surfaces that change over some extent direction, are represented for digitally based files in computer accessible databases in sections each with data for each such section specifying the corresponding section outline curve and the corresponding section position along that extent direction. Thus, there is a desire to have such geometrical data representations in plural differing sections of the entire geometry for many differing objects of many kinds each being provided on a common format basis to enable making accurate comparisons therebetween including comparative analyses.